What have you done to your Miata today?

[thejeans]

Did the foamectomy today to the drivers seat... Cleared up some headspace and actually think the bottom of the seat is drastically more comfortable. Only time will tell after I do some driving in the car but happy so far.
Waiting on one more part and hopefully can continue putting the motor back together

 

[THE Phen]

Also bought a white paint marker for the letters on the tires, saw a pic of that before I bought the car and thought it looked good. Might have to re-touch it.

I never really understood why that fad came back. People stopped getting raised white letter tires because they looked too "hillbilly" for some. Now, it's all the rage again. **** that s***. I'm gonna make me some red-line tires.

 

[princess peach]

haha they have other colors, but considering the color of the car and wheels white looks better

 

[thejeans]

Yeah it's funny, my truck has the raised white letters and I hate it... Hahaha

 

[aMaff]

Yeah it's funny, my truck has the raised white letters and I hate it... Hahaha

You could probably flip the tires and get the side without the white lettering. I've seen it a lot on non-directional tires.

 

[thejeans]

Yeah I was just adding to phens and Pablo's conversation, Pablo likes it, phen said a lot of people used to dislike cause it looks too hillbilly and I figured since I have a truck I'm now a hillbilly and I don't like it haha...

I know I can flip them and I know I could just sand the white lettering off but frankly I don't care enough with that truck right now, it's the DD and tbh as long as it starts everyday and gets me where I want to go I'm good with it... You should see the s*** respray job on the tailgate and rear quarter panels... That's worse than the white lettering haha
The truck ain't pretty and that's how I got it so cheap, BUT it's mechanically solid and runs like a champ haha

 

[aMaff]

Fair enough

 

[princess peach]

Imma 'Murican now, had the shop put the white lettering on the outside when I had mah pickup (lol2)

 

[brandini]

White lettering looks good when you have a sidewall and darker wheel color to play with, not good on those skinny tires and lighter wheels.

Another option to fill the black void is silver calipers. Gotta have a little contrast!

 

[thejeans]

hoping you guys know these questions, every dealer around me is not a "mazdaspeed dealer" and the closest one is over 2 hours away, im trying to track down an idler pulley bolt and a few transmission/bell housing bolts
none of them can "confirm" the bolts are the same between non mazdaspeed and mazdaspeed cars, i think they are but was curious if you guys could confirm...
thanks in advance guys!

 

[JamesCH]

I think these guys would be your best bet for that question:

http://parts.arlingtonmazda.com/

Great online parts store too.

A while back I bought 30lbs or so of used Miata hardware, so if you need something and don't want to spend $4+/bolt, let me know.

 

[thejeans]

if i ordered 2004 miata bolts for the idler pulley on the timing belt and then a couple bolts to mount the trans and block back together, apparently it was missing a few when i tore it apart haha but theorectically they shouldnt be different
yeah maybe ill just call Rosenthal to see if they can answer my question.

 

[THE Phen]

One easy thing to keep in mind on this car is that really, the only things that make the Mazdaspeed different than the regular Miatas is the exhaust manifold and the snail attached to it, factory suspension bits, and aesthetics. For the most part, 95% of the things for the BP-4W is the same. Intake manifold should be the same as the regular BP-Z3. Mazda used the older style engine for the MSM. Not sure why, but whatever, it works.

 

[thejeans]

One easy thing to keep in mind on this car is that really, the only things that make the Mazdaspeed different than the regular Miatas is the exhaust manifold and the snail attached to it, factory suspension bits, and aesthetics. For the most part, 95% of the things for the BP-4W is the same. Intake manifold should be the same as the regular BP-Z3. Mazda used the older style engine for the MSM. Not sure why, but whatever, it works.

thanks for the heads up, yea i figured it was the same but when all the local dealerships (aka non speed dealers) kept giving me the runaround and couldnt really give me an answer, thankfully the guys at Rosenthal were able to answer my question. i was just wanting to get some solid evidence if they were or werent. hated to spend 6-7 bucks a bolt at the dealership for them not to fit

 

[aMaff]

Got my thermostat neck delete w/ temp sensor fitting from JamesCH (seriously, if you need anything made up for a Miata, hit him up), and he threw in a 'surprise' to go with it. He tells me he's thinking about doing a run of them, so if you want one, hit him up

 

[brandini]

One easy thing to keep in mind on this car is that really, the only things that make the Mazdaspeed different than the regular Miatas is the exhaust manifold and the snail attached to it, factory suspension bits, and aesthetics. For the most part, 95% of the things for the BP-4W is the same. Intake manifold should be the same as the regular BP-Z3. Mazda used the older style engine for the MSM. Not sure why, but whatever, it works.

List of functional differences:
-diff & axles
-radiator
-steering rack (shorter, those bastards)
-cams (barely)
-shifter (not the same as non-mazdaspeed 6-speed)
-springs/shocks/sways
-muffler

 

[bazooka joe]

I read an eBay ad for a msm this weekend, the seller, no lie, said there were 3200 different parts on the msm then a reg NB!

 

[aMaff]

I read an eBay ad for a msm this weekend, the seller, no lie, said there were 3200 different parts on the msm then a reg NB!

He was referring to the molecular level, obviously

 

[aMaff]

To go with the new dash:

 

[princess peach]

^^ I've wanted one of those for a while. I don't really need it, but I want it.

Someone took some nice shots of the car yesterday